It is common for companies and universities as well as governmental institutions to have secure local network domains which allow users, once logged into the secured network domain, to access services and other objects which are securely held within the domain. A common example of a service which is utilized by a logged-in user is to print documents to a network printer. Many network systems, such as Windows™ Server 2003, utilize security features which require the user to initially provide login and password information to access the secured network domain. Once the user's credentials are verified, the user is able to subsequently access desired services within the network domain without having to continually provide password information. For example, a network system, such as the Windows™ Server system, utilizes the Kerberos security protocol to establish the logon session with the user and allows the user to access the network's services without requiring any servers to know or store that user's password.
However, current network systems that utilize internal security protocols do not provide the means to allow the user to login into the network when the user is accessing the network remotely. For example, the user may have difficulty accessing the network's authentication service when the user's computer is not directly connected to a dedicated network connection (e.g. no connected work Ethernet cable) or does not have an established VPN connection to the network. Further, current network systems do not operate to allow the user to access service resources when the user is not directly logged into the network.
What is needed is a system and method which allows a remote client device to access the network domain remotely and continually functions as a proxy to enable the remote client device to access and utilize network services without having to continually provide login credentials.